1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to laser weapons and, in particular, to weapon systems and methods incorporating gas dynamic lasers.
2. Description of Related Art
Gas dynamic lasers have been in existence since the early 1970s. In such lasers, hot gases are directed through appropriately shaped nozzles from a high pressure, high temperature chamber into a low pressure chamber. This transition from high to low pressure creates a non-equilibrium region in the low pressure region and the gases in this low pressure region may emit large amounts of energy. This energy is often released from the gases in the form of both heat and light, and this release of energy can be defined as a stimulated emission from the photons contained within the heated gases.
In most known gas dynamic lasers, gases such as, for example, hydrogen and fluorine can be combined in a combustion chamber via a chemical reaction in which heat and light energy are emitted. Alternatively, in other known gas dynamic lasers, chemicals such as iodine and oxygen can be used. In such known gas dynamic lasers, however, the chemical reaction between the two gases results in the emission of primarily heat energy. Thus, from the standpoint of producing energy in the form of light, such known gas dynamic lasers are highly inefficient.
In still other known lasers, metal oxides are combusted to produce heat and light energy. The reaction of metal oxides in such lasers produces a large amount of soot and other metal vapor byproducts. Thus, the chemically explosive mixture of elements used to create energy in the form of light in such known lasers acts to quickly contaminate the mirrors and/or windows of such lasers through which the emitted light energy is directed. In particular, metals from the explosive mixture can coat the one or more windows and/or mirrors disposed within a laser chamber of such devices after only a single reaction is completed. Thus, such lasers are typically only usable for a single firing, after which the entire chamber and associated windows and/or mirrors must be removed, cleaned, and replaced. Such a process is time-intensive and can be fairly expensive. In addition, the fragile components requiring cleaning can often be damaged and/or misaligned in the removal, cleaning, and reassembly process, further increasing the cost and difficulty of using such known lasers.
The methods and structures disclosed herein are directed towards overcoming one or more of the deficiencies discussed above.